


Turnabout

by CleverCorgi



Category: Rise of the Guardians (2012)
Genre: Angst, Bits of humor, Heavy Petting, M/M, Possessive Jack is Possessive, fluffy fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-08-11
Updated: 2013-08-12
Packaged: 2017-12-23 04:30:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 9,489
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/922006
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CleverCorgi/pseuds/CleverCorgi
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Bunny starts teasing Jack relentlessly, throwing the Winter Sprite completely off his game.  When the teasing gets to be too much, can Bunny salvage their relationship before its too late?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This has been my project for the last week since I finished _Snow Days_. , a prompt fill for [this prompt](http://rotg-kink.dreamwidth.org/2389.html?thread=5853269#cmt5853269).
> 
> I needed a short break from writing in my Snowverse, so I went and completed a novellette (as it turns out, by length) for fun.
> 
> Enjoy!

It had been several years since the Guardians had defeated Pitch.  Several years in which Jack’s excuse that he needed to protect his believers in case Pitch attacked saved him from attending the annual New Year's Eve party.  It was hosted by the Dagda every year on a remote island to the north of Scotland, shrouded from mortal eyes; accordingly, it was _the_ party to attend each year.  This year, however, Jack's usual excuse fell on deaf ears, given that they hadn't seen hide nor hair of Pitch, let alone any nightmares or black sand, since that fateful day.

The issue was compounded by the fact that the other Guardians failed to notice, that despite his love of children and fun times, how antisocial Jack really was.  Or, to be more accurate, how few spirits he actually knew that cared to interact with him.  Being a winter spirit, he'd quickly learned in his early years that most spirits not of winter took an immediate dislike to him because of that one simple fact and refused to interact with him.  As for the other winter spirits, Jack had no desire to know them.  At all.

Given his lack of an excuse this year, Jack had been coerced into attending.  And immediately been ignored by nearly every spirit present.  Big surprise.

A couple of the other winter spirits had at least acknowledged his presence, but had not sought out his company where he sat on a small boulder on the periphery of the gathering, bored and lonely.  He was at least thankful for that small mercy.

He occasionally caught sight of the other Guardians scattered about the crowd.  Tooth flit about the crowd, visiting with, it seemed, everyone. North wasn't terribly hard to find either; he was off to one side drinking copious amounts of alcohol with several other Russian spirits and being quite loud about it.  Sandy's dream sand displays were impossible to miss.  Sandy occasionally caught his eye, winked, and gestured towards a certain lagomorph.

Jack would blush and look away, but Sandy was right; he only had eyes for Bunnymund.

If his perch on the outskirts of the party was good for anything, it was as an excellent vantage point to watch his favorite leporid socialize with the other spirits.  Given that Bunny was at least a head taller than the majority of the spirits in attendance, it was an easy task to keep track of him.

Jack smiled slightly as he watched Bunny laugh at something a kitsune had said.  How he wished that he could make the Pooka laugh like that.  Jack blushed and turned his head away to gaze out to sea when Bunny caught his eye.

No one – well, no one but Sandy – knew that he had fallen in love with the Easter Bunny and his easygoing attitude, the care with which he took in his everyday life, and how he handled children now that he’d spent more time with Sophie; even the industrious gruffness he expressed around his holiday had become endearing rather than abrasive.

He had confessed his feelings to Sandy earlier in the day, asking for advice on how to approach him, seeing as how Sandy had known Bunny the longest.  Well, Moon had probably known Bunny longer, but Jack neither knew him well nor cared to, given what he had had to endure before being raised to Guardianship.

He might have been holding a small grudge.  Just a little one.

Sandy's pictographic advice had basically been to be himself.  Just wait for the right moment.  Easier said than done, given their history.  Despite Jack's best efforts, he still didn't quite feel like he'd completely overcome their earlier animosity, although Bunny did seem to at least consider him a friend now.  He certainly called him ‘mate’ more often than anything else, except when trying to grab his wandering attention.  Granted, that last was often enough to drive the Pooka mental at times, or so it seemed.

Jack wanting to be more than friends would either make or break their relationship, he was certain.  He desperately hoped that it would be the former and not the latter.  Now if only he could work up the courage to –

“Ow ya goin’, Frostbite?”

Jack jumped in surprise, bolting upwards several feet into the air as the subject of his meandering thoughts appeared seemingly out of nowhere.  The small cup of non-spiked punch he’d been nursing for the last hour went flying out to sea.  Jack sheepishly settled back down onto the boulder, pointedly ignoring Bunny's quiet chuckle as he cursed inwardly at his inattention.

“Startled you, did I mate?”

“No,” Jack denied automatically, tone petulant, as he willed himself not to blush, with limited success.

Damn his eternal teenage hormones to hell.

“You're kind of cute when you blush, did you know that?  What color is that, violet?” Bunny observed, squinting at Jack in the gloom, his grin widening when Jack's blush immediately darkened.  “Definitely violet.”

Jack nodded mutely, overwhelmed and a bit embarrassed.

 _He thinks you're cute_ , part of Jack's mind screamed at him.  _Do it!  Confess!_

Jack screwed up his courage and opened his mouth –

“What are you doing drinking with the flies, anyway?  This is a party!  While I'm usually not much of one for them myself, a party is a party, especially this one, mate.  You should be mingling!”

Jack frowned.  “Bunny, I don't exactly know anyone here except you and the other Guardians.  And they aren't interested in me, so –”

“That’s a croc, ya galah,” Bunny interjected.  “You're pleasant company when you're not pranking me every time I turn around.  In fact, you're the Guardian of Fun!  Of Joy!  Of course they'd want to talk to you, mate.  Now go on, have a chinwag or two.  She’ll be apples.  Just be careful of North, he’s already full as a goog!”

Jack shook his head, smiling at Bunny despite himself.  “You’re just lucky I’ve been making an effort to learn strine, or I’d have no idea what you just said.”

Bunny smirked before giving him an expectant look.  Jack threw up his hands.

“Fine, fine!  I’ll go, if it’ll make you happy!  I promise you, it’s going to be a disaster!”

 

~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~

 

Aster had to admit, when Jack was right, _boy_ , was he right.  Complete and total disaster.  Kind of funny to watch the train wreck in progress though.  Aster was following along discreetly, using his exceptional hearing to keep track of Jack when he lost sight of him, which was most of the time.  Jack was at least a head shorter than everyone else.

Jack had started by trying to interact with several Japanese kami.  His lack of success was only matched by the humorous expressions on their faces.  Aster had had to stop talking to the nymph he had been speaking to - who was spending all her time flirting, not that Aster cared to return the favor - and focus on not laughing out loud while he followed Jack's movement with his eyes and ears.  The nymph had huffed and wandered off.

Good.  She wasn't his type anyway, not that anyone needed to know that.  Some spirits could be a bit – uptight, about those who preferred the same gender.  Shapeshifter he may be, he _liked_ being male.

Jack next moved on to a group of Fox spirits.  Aster figured that would work out better, them being fellow tricksters and all, so they should – or, not.

_That was fast.  What'd he do that was so offensive?_

Jack then got accosted by a couple of winter spirits, who seemed to be rather animated about welcoming him into the fold.  Aster missed the way Jack stiffened as he turned to gaze elsewhere, recognizing someone’s laugh.

_They should have something to talk about!  Oh, look, there's Raven, I should -_

CRASH!

“Watch where you're going!” a squeaky voice exclaimed.

_I take my attention away from him for two seconds...._

Aster made his way over in time to see Jack righting himself from apparently tripping over the Groundhog, who was just dusting himself off from a scattering of frost and ice crystals.  In addition, it seemed that Jack had managed to overturn a table near the dance floor, spilling the refreshments everywhere.  Frost and ice covered everything in a five foot radius around him.  He must have let loose with it in his panic.

Then Aster noticed the punch-drenched hoodie and pinkish-hued hair, tiny pink ice crystals scattered throughout.  Aster couldn't help himself, he laughed; ‘pink’ Jack was just too adorably funny and tripping over the _Groundhog_?  Priceless!

The laughter rippled outward; in short order, everyone within earshot was laughing over the incident.  Jack flushed a dark violet and, with one last embarrassed glance at Aster, shot up into the air with a cold blast of wind, startling many of the bystanders.

“Good riddance,” the annoyingly little rodent sneered before going on to say several nasty things about Jack.

 _Oh, now that is just_ not _on._

Aster growled and marched over.

“What do _you_ want, rabbit?” the irritating creature sneered, before yelping as Aster grabbed him by the scruff of the neck.  “Watch it!”

Aster growled, “You’d best stop talking like that about Jack, you blighter, or I'll job ya!”

“‘Job?’  What does that even _mean_ , ‘job?’  Does it have something to do with that pansy ass winter sprite you call a Guardian?  He doesn't even have a holiday!”

Aster snarled, “Ya asked for it,” and then proceeded to show the Groundhog the error of his ways.

With his fist.

 

~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~

 

“Oi!  Frostbite!”

Jack hid a wince and turned around, false smile firmly in place.  The dumb kangaroo was wading through the throngs of Yetis at the Workshop.

It had been several days since the disastrous party.  Jack had been hiding out at the Workshop, specifically avoiding the individual who had finally tracked him down.  Jack was still angry at Bunny for laughing at him when he had been so terribly mortified and he wasn't ready to forgive him just yet.

_But… maybe he came to apologize?  Ha, when elves fly!_

“What do you want, Cottontail?” he asked, a slight edge in his voice.  Maybe Bunny wouldn't notice.

“What's with the snarky tone?”

_Or not._

“I don't know what you're talking about,” Jack rejoined, hotter than he'd intended as the smile fell from his face.

A sly look crossed Bunny's face before he questioned, tone light and teasing, “Is our clumsy little pink-haired Guardian trying to have a blue with little ol' me?”

Jack froze.  “What?”

_Have I not gotten all of the pink out yet?_

Bunny grinned and mimed tripping over a nearby elf.

Jack paled, anger extinguished as the mortification came back with a vengeance.  He spun on the spot and jumped out a window.  He flew off without a backwards glance, seeking a new hiding spot to wallow in his pain alone.

A few days later, Jack was visiting Toothiana when Bunny appeared to ask her about a particular flower he’d been looking for and if any of her girls had seen one.  He got sidetracked by Jack’s presence, however.

“Hey there Frostbite.  Speaking of flowers, I brought one special for you.”

Jack gazed cautiously at the Pooka, nodding slowly for him to go ahead.  Bunny, with a flourish, presented a bright pink flower that sparkled in the light as if covered with ice crystals.  It was actually quite beautiful, but –

“Bunny, what is that and why are you giving it to me?” Jack asked, tone wary.

Bunny smirked.

 _Bad sign_.

“Well, y’see Frostbite, this here is a _Delosperma cooperi_ , a type of ice flower that is quite hardy and can stand really cold temperatures.  When I saw it yesterday in my garden, I _immediately_ thought of you and your pink hair from the other night.”

Jack blushed a dark violet in embarrassment and, making half-muttered excuses, threw himself out the nearest window.  He vaguely registered Bunny’s laugh as he ran.

And this was only to be the beginning.

Jack had developed a habit of visiting the Warren often, sometimes daily, especially during his off-seasonal periods.  Now, though, he began to visit less and less, because every time - every single _damn_ time - he visited, Bunny inevitably brought up that embarrassing incident.  Not always at first, which brought a false sense of hope to the sprite each and every time, but he always did.

Sometimes he would reference the ‘clumsiness,’ while others he’d poke fun at Jack about the pink-stained hair.  When that finally wound down in mid-February, Jack thought he was in the clear.

He was wrong.

Jack pranked.  It was part and parcel with Joy being his Center.  Pranks were _funny_.  Every now and again, a prank failed; the timing was off, or the target didn’t do what Jack anticipated, or, occasionally, the prank backfired on him quite directly.  Somehow, Bunny was just _there_ every time a prank backfired on him – and then teased him mercilessly for weeks afterwards after laughing over the incident.

After all of that, Bunny then began nitpicking every little thing that Jack did wrong.  _Everything._ It was almost enough to drive Jack insane.

Jack stopped visiting the Warren mid-March.  Bunny never noticed; he was too busy preparing for Easter.

Jack pretended that it didn’t hurt.

Jack’s enjoyment of life waned slowly as time progressed and Bunny, time and again, laughed and teased him.  His Joy in his work was slowly sputtering to a cold, dead stop.  He’d tried, at Sandy’s urging, to talk to Bunny about the situation, but those ‘talks’ turned into arguments and Jack always ran away.

He pretended that the fact the being he loved with all his heart treating him so terribly didn’t hurt either.

Because it was easier to pretend than to face the reality of his dreams crumbling around him.

So he pretended it didn’t hurt.

 

~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~

 

Sandy knew better.

As a result of his well-known bouts of narcolepsy, nearly every spirit he’d ever encountered underestimated just how observant he could be when he was awake.  After all, you had to focus on an individual to pick out their dreams and desires.  It was child’s play to figure out anything else and, as he was mute, body language was everything.  He actually _could_ read body language in his sleep.

Don’t ask how.  It’s… complicated.

He watched the whole sordid affair between Jack and Bunny with a heavy heart.  He’d asked Jack, in his way, a month after the party, if Jack wanted him to talk to Bunny, explain what was wrong.  Jack had laughed that thin reedy laugh of his, the one that he thought Sandy didn’t know hid his pain behind a façade of joy and a carefree attitude, and told him that he was ‘fine.’ 

Sandy had once heard a human say that ‘fine’ stood for ‘fucked up, insecure, neurotic, and emotional,’ which he found rather fitting to this situation and said as much, with actual sand-formed words for emphasis.  Jack had laughed again and waved off his concern, flying off as if it didn’t matter.

Jack was wrong about that too, just as he was wrong in thinking that no one saw his pain, or cared.

Sandy may have been the only one, but he _saw_.  He _cared_.  And what he saw both saddened and infuriated him.  For a scholar and a Guardian, Bunnymund could be terribly blind at times.  Especially when it came to Jack Frost.

What Bunny didn’t see was that Jack ran away from each and every encounter crying.

What Bunny didn’t see was that Jack stopped visiting the Warren and only interacted with him, of necessity, during the bi-weekly Guardian meetings.

What Bunny didn’t see was just how deeply Jack loved him and how personal a betrayal the merciless and relentless teasing truly was.

What Bunny _didn’t see_ was that he was slowly, inevitably, crushing Jack’s very Center.  _His_ _Joy_.

What Bunny _didn’t see_ was how he was slowly _losing Jack_.

Sandy _saw_.  Sandy _cared_.

And Sandy had waited long enough, out of respect for Jack’s wishes.

But that time had passed.

It was time to act.

 

~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~

 

It was late May before Aster realized something was odd.  He’d not been harassed, pranked, poked, tackled, or taunted in quite some time.  In fact, now that he thought about it, since before Easter.

While he didn’t always enjoy the incidents, he had started to grow fond of the all the attention Jack had been paying him.  It was kind of flattering, in a way; he had realized the year before that Jack spent more time with him than all the other Guardians combined.  The decided lack of Jack’s presence was quite strange.

 _I’m going to have to ask Frostbite about that at the meeting,_ Aster decided as he made his way to the Workshop.

He may grumble about it regularly, but he understood why they held the meetings at the Workshop.  North needed to oversee his Yeti constantly and Jack was most comfortable in the snow and ice.  Tooth was just a short flight over the top of the world away and Sandy just didn’t care one way or the other.  Still, it’d be nice to not have to wander through the freezing weather every other week.

_Maybe I should try again at convincing North to hold the meetings at the Warren or the Tooth Palace some of the time…._

Arriving outside the Workshop in his usual spot and swearing about the cold once more –

 _I really need to get that drongo to make me an entrance point_ inside _the ruddy place._

– he made his way inside and up to the platform that overlooked the Globe, the one the Moon Crystal was stored beneath.  Everyone but Jack was already there, per the usual run of things.

_Or, not._

Sandy was missing too.

_That’s strange, I wonder – oh!_

Sandy and Jack were on the far side of the chamber.  Aster couldn’t make out what they were saying over the din of the Workshop’s production floors, but he could see indistinct shapes flitting around Sandy.  Jack was gesticulating wildly.  It looked like they were arguing about something.

That was odd.  Those two usually got on like peas in a pod.

Jack turned away from Sandy and floated across the chamber to land on the platform.  He was obviously distressed, the lines around his mouth and eyes tight with tension.  His shoulders were stiff and – were those _bags_ under his eyes?

_Kid’s obviously not been taking care of himself.  I wonder what’s wrong?_

When Jack turned and noticed he was standing there gazing at him, he flinched.  Oh, he tried to cover it with another vague gesture, but it was most definitely a flinch.  Jack all but ran passed him without a word.

_What the…?_

When Sandy floated over on a magic carpet made of sand, Aster quirked an eyebrow at him inquiringly.  Sandy scowled at Aster and gestured for him to go into the side room, with an admonishment in bright golden letters ‘Be Nice!’  Sandy then floated over to his usual spot and settled in, grabbing a glass of eggnog, as always.  Aster shook his head at their strange behavior and grabbed the piece of furniture North had designed just for him.  It looked like a cross between a rocking chair and a bar stool, but it was surprisingly comfortable.

The meeting was a short one today.  It seemed that no time at all had passed as North, Tooth, Aster, and Sandy had related their information before it was Jack’s turn.  Being that it was late spring, Aster expected Jack to have little to report, given that not many places needed snow at this time – too early for many in the Southern Hemisphere, too late for much of the Northern Hemisphere.

“So, Jack, what news of your work?” North prompted genially.

Jack shrugged noncommittally.  Sandy tinkled at him, giving him a ‘go ahead’ gesture.  Jack rolled his eyes and sighed.

_Odd behavior indeed._

“Boring stuff.  Snowed over several mountain ranges as a favor for Mother Nature.  Had a snowball fight with a few Inuit children.  Nothing much.”

Aster frowned.  This was most unlike Jack, to be so quiet and reserved.

“What’s with the attitude, Frostbite?  ‘Hog got your tongue?” Aster queried, reflexively tossing in a mild tease.

That seemed to be the wrong thing to say.

Jack flinched and his expression fell, eyes going suspiciously iridescent.

“I – nothing,” he murmured, before gesturing vaguely at the nearby window.  “I’m just – bye.”

And he flew off without another word, ignoring the protests of North and Tooth.  Aster sat staring at the spot Jack had just vacated.  Had the sprite been about to _cry?_

Aster moved to stand, but instead caught a face full of – of _sand?_ – and fell over, the world going black.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'll post the second chapter... tomorrow. ^_^


	2. Chapter 2

Aster startled awake to find himself in a featureless black void.  Disoriented, he stood and turned around several times before verifying that, yes, he was alone and there was absolutely nothing to use as a point of reference.  The ‘ground’ felt solid, but featureless, like perfectly smooth marble.  The air was tasteless and scentless.

“Cooee!” he shouted into the void.

Not even an echo.

_That’s not creepy._

Aster picked a random direction and started to walk.  He took his first step –

SNAP!

Aster honked in surprise as he suddenly found himself hanging upside down by one leg.  His right leg had caught in a – was that a snare made out of _dream sand?_

“Sandy?” he called warily into the void.

A faint tinkling answered him, but there was no sign of the other Guardian.

Okay then.

“What’s this about?”

Several voices spoke from the void.

“You have –” came North’s voice, caution tinting his words.

“– done –” Tooth’s said next, worried.

“– Jack Frost –” Pitch, this time, purring in that creepy way of his.

“– a great –” Mother Nature, in her matter-of-fact way.

“– wrong.” Ombric, angrily.

Aster stared as Sandy formed out of the void, blackness suddenly turning golden, as his body quite literally built itself grain by grain.

“What was that?”

“– Sandy does not speak –” North’s voice explained.

“– this is how I –” Jack’s voice continued, gleefully.

“– communicate within –” some unidentifiable voice, probably some nameless human.

“– the Dreamscape.” Raven, that time.

“I’m dreaming?”

“Yes,” came several voices in chorus.

Aster was abruptly, unceremoniously, dropped from the snare as it dissipated into the void.  He grunted as he landed on the not-ground and, after righting himself, stood and turned to look at Sandy, who’s head was just completing construction.  Faceless for the moment, which was entirely disconcerting.  As Aster watched, the sand shifted, ridges and depressions forming, until the familiar structure of Sandy’s face was visible.

It was drawn into a scowl.

“What’s this about, mate?  I do have things to do, you know.”

“SILENCE!” Pitch, screaming.

Aster flinched reflexively.

“Sandy, what –”

Sandy made a giant sand-fist and scooped Aster up, holding him tight.  A band of sand formed into a gag and prevented Aster from speaking.  He muttered several obscenities, muffled by the gag.  Although no loose grains fell into his mouth, the texture of it was unusually rough.

“Patience you must have –” That sounded like that one short green guy from that one movie – _Star Wars,_ was it?

Aster growled but obediently remained silent.

The panoply of voices continued.

“You do not know –” a voice, male.

“– the damage –” a female, this time.

“– you have caused.” Tooth, from one of her lectures he remembered hearing at a meeting last month.

“See for yourself.” some nameless, genderless voice, dark and ominous.

A scene unfolded before them, snapping into existence with a suddenness that startled Aster.  It was the New Year’s Eve party.  Jack was meandering through the crowd of spirits, looking tense and wary, scanning the crowd as if hunted.

_Odd.  I don’t remember him being that tense._

Jack was then pushed by a spirit he passed – Aster couldn’t identify who – and stumbled over the Groundhog, tripping into a refreshment table and spilling punch everywhere, although mostly on himself.  A burst of cold exploded from his as he flailed in a panic, just as Aster had figured.  He then saw a look of resignation pass over the sprite’s face before Jack schooled it into expressionlessness and sighed, rolling over.

Then Aster heard himself laugh.  Jack visibly flinched, wilting into himself as the crowd joined in.  His eyes turned suspiciously watery before the cold burst of air whisked him away and the scene faded, the gag dissipating along with it.

“What was that?”

“A memory,” Tooth’s voice said.

“Whose?”

“A combination of –” North, talking about cookies, as Aster recalled.

“– Sandy and Jack –” himself, from an interaction he’d had with Tooth a while back.

“That’s not how I remember it.  He didn’t react like that.  I’d have remembered.”

“Your eyes can deceive you; don't trust them,” Aster thought he recognized another _Star Wars_ quote.

He really needed to pay more attention to popular culture, it seemed.

Golden letters appeared above Sandy’s head saying, _Watch and Learn_.

What followed was a series of memories, mixed viewpoints of Sandy’s and Jack’s – to give a third person point of view, it seemed – that chilled Aster to the bone.  The tale they told was not what he’d remembered the past several months.  In the memories, he saw himself from Jack’s point of view, teasing and taunting, poking at Jack’s insecurities and low self-confidence.  Jack, in turn, ran away from nearly every encounter moments before past-Aster could see him cry.

Aster got the impression that he ran to avoid giving Aster more ammunition.  He felt a stab of guilt twist in his gut painfully and whined at the display, struggling futilely against his bonds.  Oh, he knew better than to challenge Sandy’s mastery of the Dream, but his instincts cried for escape nonetheless.

“Sandy, stop.  Please!” he called.  He’d seen enough.

“Oh, go suck an egg, rabbit.”  Pitch, from that horrible failed Easter.

 _Way to strike a man when he’s down, Sandy_.

“Sandy – mmf!”

_Bloody hell.  Gagged again._

Sandy then subjected Aster to a further sequence of taunts, jibs, teasing, arguments.  Every interaction they’d had for the past half year was replayed for him from Jack’s point of view.  Aster grew more and more horrified and ashamed at himself for not seeing the signs of Jack’s distress.  No wonder the sprite had stopped visiting him.

And then Sandy struck the proverbial death blow.

A new scene unfolded.  Aster didn’t recognize it at all.  Sandy was floating on a cloud of his dream sand over the ocean, lazily drifting in a – northerly direction? – towards a bright point in the distance, trails of dream sand flitting from his hands into the distance at intervals.  After a few moments, a pale form appeared in the sequence.

_Jack._

Looking more cheerful than he had in months.

Jack settled on Sandy’s little cloud with a wave and a grin.

“Hey Sandy.”

Sandy smiled lazily and bobbed into the air, slowly rotating in a sideways circle, until he was facing Jack upside down.  He stuck out his tongue.  Jack laughed before growing serious.  Sandy, sensing the change in the sprite’s mood, righted himself and settled onto his cloud.

“Sandy, I – I need your advice.”

Sandy made a giant pair of rabbit ears, as if to say “I’m all ears.”  Jack smirked at the display, although it quickly dropped as he grew pensive.

“You see, Sandy, I, um, I have these feelings for someone and I don’t know how to tell him.”

_Him?  Who could Jack be talking about?  He said himself he had few friends in the spirit world…_

Sandy smiled and motioned for Jack to continue as a heart and question mark appeared above his head.

“Who?  Well, um… you see, it’s… Bunny.  I love Bunny,” he repeated, a faint smile forming on the sprite’s face.

Aster felt his heart freeze in shock for a moment as blood thundered in his ears, time seeming to slow.

 _Jack  loves me?_ Me _?  Oh, what a fool I’ve been!_

Time caught back up with itself in a rush as Aster refocused on the scene before him, watching how Sandy offered advice and suggestions on how to approach him.  Aster barely paid the scene any mind, though, his horror and shame warring with each other for dominance as he sagged against his bonds in defeat.  The scene faded after a moment and the gag and bonds dissipated.  Aster crumpled to the not-ground and curled inward defensively, berating himself for every kind of fool.

To think how _close_ he had come to finding another being who could love him for _himself_ after all these eons….

Sandy allowed Aster exactly three minutes to wallow in self-pity before he slapped him, hard, with a sand-fist.  Aster startled and brought one paw up to his muzzle, almost as if in a daze, touching the stinging patch of skin.

“Why’d that hurt so much if this is just a dream?”

Sandy smirked.  Aster decided he _really_ didn’t want to know.  Aster hung his head.

“Who’m I kidding, Sandy?  I’ve turned Jack into a broken packet of biscuits.  I’ve ruined any chance I might have had with him.  Friendship or – or otherwise.  Frostbite probably hates me now….”

Sandy tapped him on the head, expression doubtful, and gestured to the side when Aster looked up.  Another scene bloomed before his eyes.

It was the Workshop.  Earlier today, since he saw himself appear in the background a few moments after the scene started.  This must have been the argument he’d witnessed earlier.

“– I can’t stop loving him, Sandy, even if I wanted to!  It’s just – he’s so – _mean_ , sometimes, I can’t stand it!” Jack was saying, gesticulating wildly, pain marring his features.

Sandy mimed out something to the effect of _you’ve let the situation get too far out of hand; talk to him._

“Sure, Sandy, sure.  That’s what you’ve said every time!  But it doesn’t matter!  He just argues with me!  There’s no joy in that, no fun!  And, you know what’s worse?  I’m finding it harder and harder to do my _damn_ job because all I _can_ feel is _hopeless_.  Do you have _any_ idea how hard it is to spread joy when you have _none_?”

Sandy sagged and looked sad as Jack flew off and the scene faded.  Aster stared at the space where Jack had been a moment before in complete and total shock.  He felt numb.

 _I’ve – I’ve crushed his Joy?  His_ Hope? _What a terrible Guardian I’ve been!_

Sandy laid a gentle hand on Aster’s shoulder.  It was several minutes before Aster collected himself enough to speak.

“What have I _done_?  I’ve crushed his Joy, his Hope!  What do I do?  What _can_ I do?”

A scene that looked to be from a movie unfolded over Sandy’s shoulder.  A young boy and an older man were talking.

“– They say that it is hopeless…” the boy said softly, worry etched in his features.

The older man stood and swung a battered sword several times, before hefting it thoughtfully.

“This is a good sword, Haleth, son of Háma,” he said as he handed the sword back to the boy as he knelt before him.  “There is always hope.”

The scene faded and Sandy nodded.  Aster shook himself mentally and stood.

“You’re right, Sandy.  It looks like I have a lot of work to do.”

Aster’s vision faded to white and he awoke.  Opening his eyes, he found himself in one of North’s guestrooms.  He sat up and checked the clock on the wall.  Sandy had kept him in the Dreamscape for only a couple hours.  Aster shook his head at that – it had felt like _days_ – and stood, grim determination coloring his features.

“Much to do,” he affirmed to himself as he marched off in search of Jack Frost.

 

~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~

 

“Stupid kangaroo,” Jack muttered, throwing a small stone at the water’s surface.  He wiped at his eyes with his sleeve as he watched it skip several dozen times across the icy water.  “Stupid crying.  Stupid feelings.”

Jack had been sitting on a rock on the remote northern Canadian shoreline for half the day, skipping stones the Wind brought him.  The sun was close to setting, he’d been there so long.  He’d already worked through the new pain, _again_ , but this time the tears just wouldn’t stop.  Every time he felt like he had regained enough control to function, he’d remember the most recent incident and tear up all over again.

“Stupid kangaroo,” he growled.

“Aye, you could say that mate.”

Jack yelped and jumped several feet in the air, spinning around to stare at Bunny where he stood a couple yards away.  He hastily swiped at his eyes with his sleeve yet again, hoping Bunny hadn’t seen.  He threw another false smile on his face.

“Hey Cottontail!” he said mock-cheerfully.  “Isn’t this a bit cold for your sensitive widdle ears?  Shouldn’t you be off doing strange Aussie things, like catching extremely poisonous snakes for fun?”

Bunny sighed and shook his head.

“No, mate.  We… need to talk.”

Jack stiffened momentarily, the grin falling from his face, as he allowed himself to start drifting warily away from the Easter Bunny.

“I don’t know what you mean, so if you don’t mind, I’ll just –”

“I came to apologize for being such a bastard to you since that party, Jackie.”

Jack froze in place, the Wind setting him gently down on the shore.

“What?” he asked tentatively, voice small.

Bunny approached carefully, in a manner Jack had witnessed hunters approach a frightened deer.  He was probably right to do so, too.  Bunny stopped a foot from Jack and crouched down to his eye level, placing a tentative paw on Jack’s shoulder.  When the sprite didn’t shy away, he repeated the action with his other hand.

“I’m sorry, Jack.  So, so sorry.  I didn’t realize that my teasin’ was causing you so much pain.  It’s, well, us Aussie’s sometimes can get a bit _pointed_ in our play and forget that not everyone has the same sense of humor we do.”

Jack blinked back tears several times before he could speak, voice still tentative and small.

“Who – who told you?”

“Sandy.  He gave me a right smack upside the head, figuratively and literally.  I’m sorry I did you such wrong.”

“Did – did he say anything else?”

Bunny’s grip tightened minutely on Jack’s shoulders before he nodded.

“Yes.  I’m given to understand that you’re in love with me,” the giant lagomorph said softly, his eyes unreadable.

Jack flinched and tried to back away, flailing against Bunny’s chest when he couldn’t escape.  He dropped his staff in his distress as he railed on the hard muscles flexing before him.  His movement ceased abruptly when he was pulled into a hug, mostly out of shock.

After a few moments, he whispered, “Bunny?”

Bunny chinned him lightly –

 _Chinning?  Chinning!  Rabbits do that to their_ –

“I’m sorry mate.  I didn’t know.  I’m not sure how I feel ‘bout you just yet, but,” Bunny whispered into his hair softly, pausing to take a shuddery breath of his own.  “You can have me.  If you still want me, that is.”

There was no resistance this time when Jack pushed against Bunny’s chest, but he only moved back enough to look up into Bunny’s face _–_

_So close._

_–_ Jack paused for a moment before speaking, marveling at how Bunny’s eyes refracted the twilight and seemed to glow and twinkle in the growing dark, like twin pools of evergreen-colored starlight.

“Do – do you mean it?” he whispered, almost too afraid to hope that his wish might come true.

Bunny smiled faintly as he nodded slowly.

“You know you have a lot to make up for, right?” Jack pressed, a shadow of his usual cockiness rearing its head.

Bunny sighed and nodded. “That I do, Jackie.  That I do.”

Before Jack fully gave in, he had one last burning question.

“Why?”

Bunny cocked an eyebrow. “Why what?”

“Why – why me?  Why now?”

Bunny sighed.  “I’ve been thinking, since my talk with Sandy.  Of all the spirits I know, _you_ are the only one who cares about the children like I do.  Sure, I got out of touch in the last couple centuries, too focused on my work, but it’s always been a bit personal for me.  You’re the same.  You follow?”

Jack nodded, eyes grown a bit wide.

“I realized that we just… fit.  Joy and Hope go hand in hand, Jackie.  So I thought I’d give it a burl and see where this goes.  I’ll also admit, since I’m trying to be as honest as I can with you, that a part of me was extremely flattered when Sandy told me about your feelings.  Do you have any idea how _long_ it has been since I last took a lover, let alone a mate?”

Jack shook his head.

“Well, suffice to say, longer than you’ve been alive, that’s for sure.  My last lover was sometime during the third century, by the human’s calendar, and didn’t last long.  They got tired of me quick; couldn’t put up with my abrasive personality, I reckon.  Before that, my last had been my mate, but he – he died, along with all the others.  You’re the first to want me for _me_ since before the Earth was born.”

Jack couldn’t believe his ears.  “You’re _how_ old?  I – I didn’t realize – and here I was, thinking I could love you –”

Bunny gave Jack a gentle shake.  “Oi!  I’m the one who can decide whether or not you can and I say you can, if you want.  I told you, it’s flattering that you’d think of me that way, especially after all I’ve done to you, both before and after that bloody party.  Speaking of, I should warn you.”

Jack tilted his head curiously.  “About what?”

Bunny shifted uncomfortably and averted his gaze.  Jack reached out and gently placed his fingers on the Pooka’s muzzle, turning his gaze back to Jack’s.

“About what, Bunny?”

Bunny cleared his throat.  “Well, some spirits don’t think its right for two males to lie together.”

Jack laughed, startling Bunny, who flopped backwards onto his rump.  Jack kneeled down before the semi-prone leporid and grinned.

“Fuck ‘em.  I can love whoever I want, damn it.  Three hundred years alone, I can do whatever I damn well please.  And you!  You’re older than the Earth!  Older than those _ideas_ those spirits seem to hold to!  So I say fuck ‘em and let them complain.  They can’t touch what we already have and – and what I hope to have in the future.”

“And what’s that?” Bunny asked softly.

Jack crawled forward, positioning himself such that his body was mere inches above the Pooka’s own.  Bunny’s fur lightly brushed Jack’s stomach as the larger spirit breathed.  The sprite’s face drew close, his lips all but touching Bunny’s as his eyes darted about the Pooka’s face, drinking in every detail.

“Your love,” Jack breathed on Bunny’s lips before closing the distance and kissing him for the first time.

Bunny’s mouth may not have been designed for kissing, but he apparently knew how to work with what he had.  One of his paws found its way to the small of Jack’s back and pulled him flush against the strong, lithe body beneath him.  Jack groaned into the kiss at the full body contact, his half-hard erection pressing up against Bunny’s sheath, which Jack could feel hardening in response.

The sun finally set, the last rays of its light illuminating the fulfillment of Jack’s dream.

 _Mine!_ Jack’s mind screamed possessively.  _Mine, mine, mine!_

Bunny was _his_.

 

~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~

 

“Hey, Frostbite?”

Jack nuzzled into Bunny’s ruff.  They had long since moved to the warmth and comfort of Bunnymund’s burrow and were currently cuddling in the Pooka’s nest.  Jack had always wondered what it would be like, but had never expected a giant pile of pillows of all shapes and sizes scattered about a room nearly twenty feet in diameter, piled several feet deep.  Scattered amongst them were blankets of various shapes and sizes too; one always seemed to be within easy reach.

After Bunny’s initial apology and after Jack had eased out their first kiss, Bunny had promised to do whatever it took to make up for his past mistakes.  To do right by Jack.  It had made him feel all warm and fuzzy inside, soothing the ache that had taken residence for the past few months.  Oh, he wasn’t going to let the Pooka off easy, that was for sure, but – it was really nice to just cuddle with him for now.

“Frostbite?”

 _Oh, right.  He was trying to get my attention_.

Jack hummed in reply, too content to speak just yet.

_His fur is so soft…._

“What was that you accused me of doing earlier for fun?”

Jack shifted so he could turn his head to look up at Bunny’s face to see one eyebrow quirked inquiringly at him.  That was an incredibly sexy sight.  He blushed faintly at the thought, tinting his cheeks a pale lavender.

Bunny chuckled, momentarily sidetracked from his initial question.  “I still say you’re cute when you blush.  I really should have examined that feeling before, but I was too busy teasing you.  I’m sorry Jackie.”

Jack giggled and rolled his eyes.  “You can stop apologizing.   _For now_.  You’re starting to sound like a broken record.”

“How else am I to make this up to you?”

“I can think of _several_ things,” Jack replied teasingly, trailing a hand down Bunny’s abdomen, leaving a thin trail of frost that quickly melted in its wake.  “ _Several_ things indeed.  But gifts would be nice too.  Or _maybe_ ….”

Jack paused as he focused for a moment.  His hand had stopped just above the Pooka’s sheath, a small patch of frost blossoming outward from his fingertips.  Bunny sucked in a sharp breath as his stomach muscles tightened reflexively.  Jack felt a slim, moist _something_ poke his hand.  When he glanced down, he blushed a bright violet and pulled his hand back.

“Now who’s teasing who?” Bunny said breathlessly, ears flat against his skull in a combination of arousal and embarrassment.

“Bunny, what…?  All I did was touch you!”

“One: think how long it has been since I last had a bedmate.  Two: I – I think we might have just discovered a temperature fetish.”

Oh, if Bunny could blush, Jack thought he might be scarlet by now, the way his nose was twitching and his ears were absolutely plastered to his skull.  Jack grinned in delight.

“Really?  Oh, that is going to be _most fun_ later.”

Bunny rolled his eyes, but was still clearly embarrassed about his reaction, so Jack let it go.  It wouldn’t be fair for him to tease the Pooka so soon after what had happened between them.  Maybe later.  In a year or two.

“You had a question?” Jack asked, bringing their conversation back to the beginning.

Bunny nodded.  “What exactly did you accuse me of doing for fun?  Earlier, at the shore?”

Jack grinned.  “Catching extremely poisonous snakes for fun.  I was just trying to goad you, avoid my – my hurt.  I didn’t mean anything by it.  It’s not like you’re crazy enough to do something like that.”

Bunny quirked an eyebrow at him and smirked.  Jack’s eyes went wide.

“No… you _can’t_ be serious.”

Bunny broke out in a grin, saying, “Actually, it’s quite entertaining.  Good way to train the reflexes.  Not nearly as dangerous as you might think, if you know what you’re doing, mate.”

“Crazy Aussie.”

“ _Your_ crazy Aussie.”

Jack hummed happily and returned to nuzzling Bunny’s ruff.  Bunny made a thoughtful noise after a moment.

“Mmm?” Jack murmured enquiringly.

“You said ‘maybe’ and trailed off a moment ago, about things I could do to make it up to you.  What were you thinking about?”

Jack grinned.

_Mine!_

 

~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~

 

Jack Frost was a possessive little bugger.

 _Really_ possessive.

Aster tugged again at the leather collar Jack had gotten for him as the first test of his commitment to making up for how he’d treated the sprite.  It hung a bit loosely, at least, and Jack had given him the freedom to decorate how he saw fit, so that it would match the rest of his usual ensemble.  The pale silver buckle, though, that Jack had provided; it was inscribed with the words “ _Property of Jack Frost_.”

He still wasn’t used to it, but, despite himself, he had to admit that Jack’s possessive streak was kind of _hot._

The weeks and first couple months following his initial apology had taken an interesting turn.  Jack had almost immediately returned to his pattern of visiting the Warren regularly, nearly on a daily basis.  After the first month, Aster gave in to the inevitable and asked Jack if he wanted to just move in.

The tackle-hug he had received in response was quite endearing.  Aster rubbed at his ribs absently at the memory.  The sprite was stronger than he looked.  A good thing to discover in a prospective mate too, if he were one to adhere to ancient traditions.

Whenever Jack wasn’t out spreading Joy and snow, nine times out of ten, one would find him at the Warren, usually stalking Bunny.  Sometimes literally.  Jack seemed to be quite fond of his own version of ‘hide-and-seek’ which more amounted to him hiding and seeking out Aster to ambush with snow balls or tackle-hugs.

Aster said he preferred the tackle-hugs but, to be honest, the snow ball fights were getting to be kind of fun too.

Jack displayed, at times, doubts and self-confidence issues, which Aster at least partially blamed himself for.  He’d tried to take all the credit, but Jack had shot that down, pointing to his three hundred years ‘flying solo,’ as he put it.  Aster tried to accept some blame for that too, but Jack refused to allow him to.

“You were sort of right, about me, back then,” he’d said.  “I was a bit irresponsible and _definitely_ irreverent.  It wasn’t until the end of my first century that I worked out how to make my happy flakes and realized what good I could do.”

“You’re still irreverent,” Aster had teased with a grin, testing the waters.  Jack did need to work on growing a thicker skin at some point.

Jack had hit him with a snowball and started an ‘epic,’ as he later called it, snowball fight.  Aster counted that as a win.

Aster discovered soon after Jack moved in that, much to his delight, the sprite was actually almost as avid an artist as he was.  Painting, ice sculpting, drawing.  Jack did all that and more.  When Jack discovered Aster’s stash of instruments, he was treated to the surprise of just how good a violinist Jack was.

Coming back to his Warren, his burrow, after a long day of scouting for new flora and fauna to the sound of Jack playing was extremely relaxing.  The Warren had been specifically designed with musical acoustics in mind, such that any music made at the burrow carried across the entirety of the place.  He usually found the sprite hovering above the burrow, playing whatever came to mind at that particular moment, eyes closed in contentment.

Now that his Joy knew no bounds and he was gaining believers, Jack had been learning to do more and more magic without his staff as a focus.  Like flying; Aster thought that that had to be Jack’s favorite discovery.

Aster was making strides towards reaching a point where he felt he’d made up for his huge gaff.  He regularly found or, much more often, hand-crafted Jack gifts of all shapes and sizes, much to the sprite’s delight.  As well, he snuck verbal apologies into their interactions intermittently, a habit which had started earning him an eye roll and a faint lilac blush every time he did it.  That meant his plan to work on Jack’s self-confidence was working.

By September, Aster discovered he was falling for Jack.  He worked up the courage to confess after only a few weeks of self-examination, which he purposefully went through to ensure his feelings were genuine and not borne of pity or guilt.  He couldn’t, _wouldn’t_ , do that to the sprite.  Not after what he’d done once already.

“I love you,” he said off-handedly, out of the blue, one morning while they were out wandering around the Warren doing nothing in particular.  He pointedly did not look at Jack, waiting with bated breath for the sprite’s response.

His ear twitched at the sudden cessation of movement next to him.  When no reply was forthcoming, he turned warily to find Jack standing there, staring at him, eyes wide.

“What did you say?” Jack whispered, voice small and so painfully full of hope it made Aster’s heart ache.

Aster smiled, rich and warm, as he repeated, “I love you.”

He expected some exuberant reaction from Jack, given the sprite’s nature, but he had not anticipated the flight-powered tackle-hug that landed him on his back with a grunt.  The giddy teen on his chest, hugging him tightly, though.  That was nice.

Jack pushed himself up off of Aster, holding himself up on just two fingertips with his feet hovering slightly off the ground, just barely keeping their bodies from touching.  The cool that always radiated from his body seemed to be intensified, which was doing interesting things to Aster’s libido.

 _I have totally developed a temperature fetish_ , he noted absently as Jack leaned in to kiss him chastely, body still held impossibly aloft.

Jack pulled back and said shyly, “I love you too.”

Jack then muttered something so softly, so guttural, that Aster had to ask what it had been, because he’d missed it.

“What was that mate?”

Jack looked up, eyes burning with sudden and profound lust, and growled possessively, “ _Mine_.”

He then dropped himself onto Aster and attacked his neck with lips and tongue, questing for the pulse point.  The rigid flesh that pressed into Aster's hip was a clear indication of how aroused Jack was.  Aster groaned at the attention as he felt himself harden in return.  Jack’s fingers roamed downward to tease at his sheath, coaxing him free with little feathery swirls of frost.

_If this is what telling him ‘I love you’ earns me, I really should do it more often – Oooh…._

 

~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~

 

By the time the next New Year’s Eve party rolled around, Jack was feeling much more secure in his relationship with Bunny.

 _Aster_ , he reminded himself.  _His name is Aster_.

Jack quickly twisted his thoughts away from the memory of the first time he’d shouted Aster’s proper name during orgasm.  Bunny, well, he’d reacted pretty strongly to that.  Yeah, that had been _fun_ , but he didn’t want an erection right now.  Not out in public, at any rate.

The party, Jack had to admit, was much better when you had the big, bad Easter Bunny as an escort, introducing you to spirits and explaining who everyone was.  As an added bonus, most of the spirits who would normally have made trouble for him left him well enough alone, given his over-protective boyfriend.  Funnily enough, no one seemed to have looked closely at the collar Aster still wore; admittedly, the script was small and you had to be relatively close to read it.

“Hey, Bunny!” Raven exclaimed as he good-naturedly wrapped an arm around Aster’s shoulders, swinging his beak around to bump the Pooka’s chin in a friendly manner.

Jack grinned at the display and reigned in his possessiveness; Aster had explained to him earlier that Raven was very ‘touchy-feely’ and not to make a scene when Raven found them.  He always seemed to find Aster eventually, apparently.

Raven froze as his eyes fell on the collar’s buckle.  His eyebrows shot upwards.  Pulling back from Bunny, he glanced around for motioning for the two of them to come forward into a huddle.

“What’s this now?” he asked, gesturing at the collar.  “ _Property_ , Bunny?”

Jack glanced at Bunny, mildly worried at his reaction, but was relieved to see a look of pride on his lover’s face.

“Is that a problem, Raven?” Bunny said, eyes hard.

Raven’s eyes widened comically.

“No!  Not at all!  It’s just – it’s been so long since you’ve taken someone into your bed and you’ve never let them stake their claim so openly!”

“Jack’s special.”

Raven glanced at Jack, eyes still wide.  “Really?  You’ve taken a new mate?  After all this time?”

Bunny nodded.  Raven laughed.

“That’s spectacular!  Congratulations you two!  And sorry about all the touching, Jack.  I didn’t know.”

Jack relaxed fully at that as he smiled his acceptance.  Everything was going to be fine.

“Congratulations for what, bird man?” a squeaky voice spoke up loudly from behind Jack.

_Or not.  Fucking Groundhog._

Raven squawked in surprise.  Bunny started; Jack could see him suppressing a honk.

“What do you want, _Phil_?” Jack asked casually as he turned around to glare at the irritating rodent.

“I would like to know what _you’re_ doing here, _Winter_ , after the mess you caused last year!  You never even apologized for tripping over me!”

Jack suppressed a flinch.  Bunny reminded him regularly that he could, and should, stand up for himself.  Moreover, he had every right to do so.  He could hear Aster growling softly behind him.  Jack placed a cautioning hand on Bunny’s nearest bicep, stilling him from springing into action.

 _Sometimes_ , Jack thought, _I need to stand up for myself._

“I’m here because I want to be.  There’s no rule preventing me from coming.  In addition, I would be remiss in my duties as a Guardian if I didn’t attend with my fellows.”

“Ha!  ‘Guardian’ you say?  You don’t even have a proper holiday, let alone more than several hundred believers!  How is that a ‘Guardian?’  And I still don’t hear an apology!”

Jack sighed and took his hand off of Aster’s arm.

 _Sometimes_ , Jack thought, amused.  _It’s nice to have Bunny do it for me._

Aster sprang immediately into action, a snarl ripping from his throat as he grabbed the Groundhog by the scruff of his neck and slammed him bodily against a nearby lamppost.

Getting right up in the idiot’s face, Aster growled, “Watch what you say, Groundhog, or I’ll job you again like I did last year!”

“What’s it to you, you – you –” Phil started to say, but stuttered to a stop as his eyes drifted down to stare at the collar mere inches from his face.

Jack watched, a wave of contentment spreading through him, as the Groundhog’s eyes went impossibly wide as he read the neat cursive script engraved in the buckle.

“ _Property of_ _Jack Frost_?” the Groundhog whispered in horror.  “You – you – you’re sleeping with _him?_ ”

“Yes, I am.  He’s my _mate_ , so I think you should apologize to _him_ for all the trouble you’ve caused and _walk away_ ,” Aster's voice was loud in the sudden silence.

Jack could hear faint whispers reverberating through the crowd as the revelation of their relationship spread like wildfire.  He received not a few appraising looks and, he was pleased to see, only a couple of disgusted ones.  Dismissing those spirits as unimportant, he turned his attention back to the Groundhog, whom Bunny had just dropped unceremoniously in front of him.

“Sorry!  Sorry!  Can – can I go now?” the creature stuttered out.  Jack waved a hand at him imperiously and the rodent darted off into the crowd.

Someone spoke up from the anonymity of the crowd.

 _Coward_.

“Is it true, Bunny?  Have you taken _him_ to bed after so many centuries of denying others the _pleasure_ of your company?”

Raven bent helpfully down and whispered in Jack’s ear, “That’d be Sylva.  He’s a rare male wood nymph who’s been trying to get Bunny into bed for the past millennia.  You bet he’s going to be _pissed_.”

Jack nodded his thanks and smirked as Bunny turned to address the crowd as a whole.

“You see this collar?  ‘Property of Jack Frost’ it reads and I am proud to wear it!  I formally declare him as my _mate_ and, furthermore, that anyone, _anyone_ , who tries to lay a finger on him will have to go through me first!  _Is.  That._   _Clear?_ ”

A murmur of assent rippled throughout the crowd.  Aster nodded, satisfaction evident in his face, and turned to Jack.

“Hey, love, do you want to get the hell out of this place or, how is it you Americans' put it… ‘blow this popsicle stand?’”

Jack grinned and nodded, voice sultry as he replied, “Let’s.  I feel the need to – _reward_ you for your display.  It was most – _exciting._ ”

Aster purred in delight as he quickly tapped the ground and, scooping Jack up, dropped into the hole without another word.

Jack was quite _thorough_ in his appreciation that night.

And always would be, for the one who held his heart.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The two _Star Wars_ quotes are Yoda's and Obi-Wan's, respectively. The 'movie scenelet' is, of course, _Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers_ during the siege of Helm's Deep.
> 
> Jack obviously has some work to do if Aster doesn't recognize those....


End file.
